Chapter 16

The start of Azula's summer was far more pleasant when compared to the previous year. The school semester at Li and Lo's boarding school ended around mid-June, and Azula was relieved that her father did not express disappointment with her end grades. Her scores were above 90% in every subject except for chemistry and physics, where they hovered at around 80% mark, but it was enough to please Ozai. Going back to school hadn't proved to be as rewarding as Azula had hoped, because by the end of the semester she still hadn't managed to connect with any of the other girls. At least they were outwardly polite and respectful to Azula. Perhaps it was Azula's own fault for not showing enough enthusiasm in gossiping about boys that still earned her the occasional 'haughty lesbian' comment behind her back.

After the end of the school year, Azula did not travel to Sozin's Island immediately, contrary to what she had expected. She still had a couple of weeks worth of driving lessons to negotiate with her instructor, an irritatingly scrupulous and nagging man who blew her every little mistake out of proportion and scolded her mercilessly when she stepped on the gas because she was so tired of going at thirty miles per hour in a fifty mile zone. Still, the driving lessons were paying off, and she was reassured that in a couple of months on her sixteenth birthday, there would be a student's driving license waiting for her. Azula could not wait to just hop into her red Spider and go wherever she wished, even if she had to place that annoying label identifying a young driver on the windshield and at the back of the car. Oh, and as a young driver, she also had to keep at least ten miles under the speed limit, although that was one rule which Azula privately resolved to ignore as much as she could.

Azula was glad that her relationship with her father had improved as of late, as a result of her managing to attain all the goals he had set for her. It was almost a year since the last time she had suffered a beating, and it had faded into a distant memory by now, even if her father occasionally still made vague threats of physical punishment when he was talking to Azula about the consequences of not meeting the goals he had set for her. Of course, the psychological pressure to always be at her best remained constant, but Azula knew that it was all done for her sake, to keep her focused and on her toes. The stress that came with it, well, she just had to find a way to deal with it by becoming mentally stronger. And while Azula was devoted to her father, she did feel slightly relieved that lately Ozai was spending more time traveling than being at home. His business trips and participation in Pai Sho tournaments took her father all over the globe and often left Azula for weeks without any supervision.

Loneliness was still ever present in Azula's life, and to her dismay, she was becoming worse at enduring it. She knew exactly who to blame for it, and it was none other than Katara Enuaraq who had showed her what difference having a friend could mean. Over the months, Azula had tried to call Katara at least a dozen times, always hanging up right after dialing the last digit. Only once she had allowed the call to go through, and it had been answered by a hoarse male voice at the other end of the line, presumably Katara's father. Azula had instantly lost all courage and had disconnected the call. Azula had then tried to reach out to Mai. Unfortunately, Mai's father had been transferred to lead a Nakamura Industries research site on Shuhon Island and he had uprooted the entire family, taking them with him, so for Azula meeting Mai was no longer feasible. They had exchanged a few phone calls, but Mai was just awful on the phone, and their conversations had felt awkward and stilted.

It was on the first day of July that Azula finally arrived on Sozin's Island, via one of the private sports planes owned by her father. Ozai would be traveling for at least another week, and Azula was looking forward to simply spending some quality time with her beloved horses and exploring everything the island had to offer. As she was walking up to the Sozin's Island manor for the first time since last summer, the serving staff lined up to welcome her. It was then that Azula was taken by complete surprise when she suddenly saw a face that she hadn't expected to see among the servant girls.

Azula somehow managed to remain silent and keep a straight face, simply making sure that she had correctly identified her old acquaintance. Afterwards, she called the governess of the manor aside to exchange a few words. "I see we have a lot of new staff this year," she told the aged governess.

"Yes, Miss Nakamura, as always there is some seasonal turnaround," the older woman replied respectfully. "But I can assure you that all the new hires have been carefully vetted. As always, we are doing all the hiring through Madame Elle's agency."

"I see," Azula nodded thoughtfully. She then subtly indicated the servant girl she was curious about. "I was just wondering about that girl. She seems awfully familiar. It's like I know her from somewhere."

"Oh, I doubt that, My Lady, she doesn't spend time in your circles," the governess smiled politely. "Hard worker, that one, she has been a great help to me from the very start. I'm not surprised, though. Rizin came with the most glowing credentials among all of the new hires."

"Rizin, is it?" Azula managed, groaning inwardly. "Yes, I'm sure she's very competent," she then nodded, walking away to settle into her rooms.

Still, Azula was not going to let the matter of this unwelcomed intruder drop. It didn't take her long to corner this 'Rizin' while she was busy dusting in one of the downstairs living rooms. "So…" Azula spoke with what she hoped was a threatening tone as she closed the doors behind her and walked up to 'Rizin', or Zirin, as she was known to most people. "You have a lot of nerve to show up in my household after everything you've done."

"Admit it, you're impressed," Zirin grinned at her, playfully whirling the feather duster.

"Oh, I'm really impressed," Azula snorted. "I'm also telling my father. You'll be out of here before you can utter another empty apology."

"Please don't do that, Azula," Zirin gave her a pleading stare. "What do you think I'm trying to achieve here?"

"Oh, I don't know… forging your credentials with a hiring agency, that doesn't sound shady at all," Azula rolled her eyes. "I would guess that you are here for another attempt to steal from me. I would be surprised if your sister wasn't lurking somewhere nearby."

"When I told you that June has abandoned her old life, I wasn't lying, Azula. Although, she did help me to forge my credentials, yes," Zirin admitted. "June has a decent job now. She works in a garage on the outskirts of Caldera, fixing motorbikes. She's happy and wouldn't want to risk what she has, so no, this isn't some attempted burglary, Azula. How does that even make sense? I made my presence perfectly clear to you. I wasn't hiding."

Azula scrunched her nose, deep in thought. Annoyingly, Zirin's words made a lot of sense. This couldn't have been some burglary plot, not with Zirin telegraphing her presence like that. "Alright, let's assume that I believe you," she stated then. "That doesn't explain why you have gone to such lengths to be here."

"Well, the pay is really good and I wanted a better summer's job than flipping burgers at Flameo's," Zirin chuckled. Azula narrowed her eyes at the other girl, demanding a better explanation. "Alright, fair enough, I'll come clean with you, Azula. I've said it plenty of times before and I'll repeat it. I really like you a great deal. It hurts that you still haven't forgiven me for the mistake that I made. I meant it when I said that I will keep working for your forgiveness until you can finally grant it to me. So, that's why I'm here, to keep working for your forgiveness. Your every wish is my desire, Your Ladyship," she added with a gallant curtsy that made her short skirt shift in a way that made Azula's face feel extremely warm.

"Right…" Azula managed, not really sure what to say. Zirin was damnably persistent and devilishly charming. And by the spirit of Agni, she looked incredibly hot in her servant's uniform. Truth be told, Azula had already forgiven Zirin after their conversation back in March, at the U18 finals, she just hadn't told it to Zirin. And she wasn't going to tell her now, either, not before making the other girl work for it some more. "Well, I wish you good luck with that, Zirin."

"Thank you, My Lady," Zirin bowed again as Azula turned to walk away. "I trust that My Lady will call upon me whenever she has a wish to be satisfied. Any wish at all," Zirin added in a sultry voice.

Azula could only huff as she walked away, painfully aware that she did so while being extremely red in the face.

Following her return from the Fire Nation, the next few months of Katara's life were predictably dull, falling back into the routine of everyday struggles of living in Cape Kuruk, the final frontier at the edge of the civilized world. Schoolwork came to her as easy as ever and she finished the semester with the best scores across the board, much to the envy of her peers and the delight of her father. Yue's regular calls were always the highlight of her day, and aside from just chatting about whatever, they kept sharpening their Pai Sho game together. Considering that Hahn Adjuk was no longer eligible to play in the U18 age bracket, both Katara and Yue felt very confident about qualifying for the next year's finals and then traveling together to Ba Sing Se come next spring.

Despite her hopes, Katara hadn't received a phone call from Azula Nakamura after they had become something akin to friends back in Caldera City. Katara wasn't terribly surprised about it, however. Azula didn't seem to really know how to maintain friendships, mostly because she had little practice dealing with friends. That thought made Katara feel rather depressed. She couldn't stop hoping that Azula would safely qualify for the next year's championship and perhaps then they could resume and hopefully strengthen their friendship come the next spring.

After the end of the school semester, Katara spent the next two weeks in hyperactive anxiety waiting for her departure for Uncle Iroh's Pai Sho summer camp. Katara had worked herself up in such frenzy that she often found it impossible to fall asleep and as a result, the bottle of Librium pills had again been called upon for help. She had packed her suitcases a week before departure. She had discussed every detail of every planned activity with Yue. She had made sure to warn Sokka not to do a repeat performance of the previous year and hitchhike all the way up to Serpent's Lake. Fortunately, Yue had already had this conversation with Sokka, and Katara felt reassured that this year she wouldn't have to compete for Yue's attention with her brother. Lastly, Yue had suggested a sneaky plan to travel to Serpent's Lake a day early just so that she could reserve one of the double bedrooms for herself and Katara.

Their plan had worked out perfectly, and in the end Toph hadn't even kicked up a fuss about not being able to share with Katara. It led Katara to suspect that last year Toph had wanted to share with her mostly just so that she could make sure that nothing happened between Katara and Aang, of which there was no chance now. Everyone seemed to be happy with their arrangements. Katara got to share a room with Yue, while Toph and Aang appeared to be tighter than ever. They were still firmly at the 'best buddies' stage, however, but Katara kept reminding herself that the two younger kids hadn't even turned fourteen yet and there was plenty of time for them to get together, if the fates were willing.

All the kids from last year's camp were once again in attendance, along with some new faces, younger children whom Katara didn't know very well. Zuko Nakamura was present, and even had the same girlfriend as last year along with him, the Earth Kingdom girl Jin. Katara was pleasantly surprised that Zuko could keep a steady girlfriend. He had never been particularly pleasant to Katara, so she considered him something of a jerk, but perhaps he was still capable of being decent to at least some people in his life. Haru hadn't wasted much time before getting together with Kori Morishita, and the two were constantly sneaking around the gardens, looking for opportunities to make out. Meng was still thirsting after Aang, but since she was understandably afraid of Toph, she made the wise decision to keep a respectable distance from the target of her affections. Teo was still friendly with everyone, but seemed to have become particularly good friends with Aang as of late. Ghashiun still acted dodgy and stank of cheap tobacco worse than ever before.

All in all, the camp was once again off to a great start, and come one rare, rainy evening, the changing wind gathering clouds above the Serpent Lake and blowing them eastwards, the group of four friends had sat down in the larger room shared by Yue and Katara to play Cluedo, a board game that Yue had brought with her from Agna Qel'a.

"I can't believe how Twinkletoes always goes for Colonel Mustard," Toph commented when Aang once again grabbed the yellow token of a brawny fellow.

"Hey, we all have our favorite colors," Aang replied defensively. "Why does Katara always grab Mrs. Peacock? Obviously because she's blue. Same with Yue and Mrs. White."

"Aang is right," Yue grinned. "I mean, Toph… why else would you go for Rev Green when Mrs. Scarlet is available? I imagine it's because green is your favorite color, right?"

"Well… maybe," Toph shrugged. "I just don't like Mrs. Scarlet. She looks like a prissy little bitch."

"She kind of looks a bit like Azula Nakamura," Yue laughed.

"See, that's what I meant, a prissy little bitch," Toph grinned.

"Aww, that's not fair, Toph," Katara argued. "Azula isn't that bad, like I told you."

"I'm not sure I buy that, Sugar Queen," Toph shook her head. "She was probably messing with you."

"No, I don't think so, Toph," Yue said thoughtfully. "Azula was still decent to us after the tournament. She came to the after-party because Katara asked her to."

"Wow, that's so unbelievable I want to see that for myself," Toph laughed.

"See, Katara is so nice, she can soothe even the most savage beast," Aang winked at her.

"Haha, stop it! I don't think Azula would appreciate being compared to a savage beast," Katara chuckled. "That said… if she was here to play with us, she'd definitely pick Mrs. Scarlet, no doubt about it."

"I still can't imagine Azula Nakamura just casually sitting down like this to play some board games with friends," Toph shook her head. "I bet she doesn't even have friends."

"You're right, and that's the problem," Katara sighed. "I'm convinced that she can actually be nice around other people. She just doesn't know how because she hasn't had many friends in her life. It's really kind of sad if you think about it."

"It is," Aang nodded at her. "But at least you're trying to be her friend. That should count for something," he smiled at Katara.

"I wouldn't mind being friends with Azula either," Yue shrugged. "She's welcome to hang out with me and Sokka anytime. I mean, she even laughed at some of Sokka's puns! That means she can't be that bad, right?"

"Right," Katara nodded with a smile on her face, turning to face Aang and Toph. "And when you catch up to us in the U18 bracket in a couple of years, maybe you can also hang out with Azula and see for yourself that she isn't the monster everyone thinks she is."

Aang was nodding back at her excitedly, while Toph for some reason chuckled uneasily, nervously rubbing the back of her neck. "In a couple of years… right…" she managed awkwardly.

"What was that, Toph?" Katara asked.

"Uh, well… there's something that you guys should know about the next year's U18 finals in Ba Sing Se," Toph began to explain, looking a little uneasy. "Haru won't be back to defend his title, right? He's moving on to the U21's or becoming a pro, I don't know. But who's realistically left to defend the pride of the Earth Kingdom?"

"Well… there's Ghashiun, Teo…" Yue reasoned aloud.

"Joo Dee and Kori will also probably qualify," Aang added.

"But can you see any of them actually winning the tournament?" Toph asked. "They can't beat either of you," she pointed at both Yue and Katara. "And they definitely can't beat Azula Nakamura. The Earth Kingdom is hosting the tournament and they don't have anyone talented enough to realistically challenge for the gold medal. They might not even have anyone placing on the podium and that would be a serious embarrassment," Toph explained. "That's why the organizers came up with a plan. You see… I'm not going back to the U15's next year. I'm moving straight up to the U18 bracket. I've already been promised a wild card."

"What?!" Yue exclaimed, dropping the cards held in her hand from surprise.

"But… but you'll be only fourteen!" Katara cried, equally shocked.

"I can't believe this… you're not coming back to the U15's?" Aang asked, wide-eyed as he looked at Toph. "I'm going to be all alone there! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he stared at the Earth Kingdom girl, a little accusingly.

Toph let out a heavy sigh. "Because I knew you'd be upset, Twinkletoes," she said in a small voice. "I'm sorry…"

"Well…" Aang hesitated, also letting out a sigh he had been holding. "I'm not angry at you, Toph. This probably wasn't your idea to begin with."

"No, it wasn't," Toph nodded. "But I did agree to it when I was given the choice by my father. Sorry, Aang, but most of the games at the U15's just felt like walkovers, and you were the only exception. I wanna test myself against some real opposition."

"I guess I can understand that," Aang nodded reluctantly.

"I just can't wrap my head around the thought that Toph is going to play with us next year," Katara said, looking at Yue. "That's both crazy and awesome."

"Oh yes," Yue nodded, looking excited. "Even if it means that we have another very strong rival to contend with. But you know what they say, if you want to be called the best, you have to play and beat the best. And Toph is among the best."

"This lady?" Toph grinned, pointing at Yue. "Yep, she gets it." She paused for a moment. "Anyway, shall we play something that isn't Pai Sho?" Toph pointed at the Cluedo board. "Dr. Black's body is getting cold while we're chatting away here."

The four friends immersed themselves in the game for a while, before Yue finally made the first accusation. "I suspect… Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the lounge!" she exclaimed.

Katara burst into laughter at that. "I'm sorry, the whole mental image of Aang assaulting someone with a candlestick just got to me," she explained, the others starting to laugh as well.

"Wait a moment," Aang suddenly stopped laughing. "Does that mean you can see me assaulting someone with any of the other available weapons?"

"Of course not," Katara rolled her eyes. "We all know you couldn't hurt a fly, Aang."

"Okay, now I'm actually curious," Yue spoke up with a gleam in her eyes. "Just play along with me, alright? Imagine if you were in the place of your token and this was all real. What weapon would you choose? Oh, and in which room?"

"Yue! I wouldn't be able to kill anyone!" Katara protested, Aang nodding alongside with her. "That's a horrible thing to think about."

"Oh, come on, don't be such ridiculous goody-goodies, it's just pretending for fun," Toph snorted. "Don't you guys have any imagination whatsoever? I know exactly what I would use, and where."

"Tell us, Toph," Yue urged excitedly.

"Lead pipe. I'm definitely using lead pipe," Toph nodded with certainty. "And I would sneak up on them in the kitchen."

"Brutal! I love it," Yue giggled. "I don't know, I'd probably go with something more sneaky and subtle. I'd probably use a dagger in the ballroom. You know, one moment we're dancing, and the next… stab!"

"You two are just awful!" Katara scowled at the two other girls.

"Oh, get off your high horse, Kat!" Yue winked at her. "You've got to choose something, too. We're not letting this drop, are we, Toph?" Toph shook her head with determination.

"Ugh, fine…" Katara groaned. She quickly looked at the collection of available weapons. "Alright, I would go for what's that least messy. That's probably the revolver. And I would do it in the hall. I imagine most of the other rooms have carpets and a lot of expensive items that you wouldn't want to get blood on, or shatter with bullets. Hall would probably be the easiest to clean, too," Katara mused. She then looked around at the faces of the others, gaping at her. "… what?" Katara asked.

"We didn't expect you to put that much thought into it, Katara," Yue chuckled.

"Katara would be the world's most considerate killer," Toph laughed aloud, then turning her attention towards the uncomfortable looking Aang. "Come on, Twinkletoes, choose something!" she demanded.

"Aww, come on guys, you know that I'm a pacifist," Aang sighed.

"A pacifist would still defend themselves if someone tried to kill them, right?" Yue asked. Aang nodded reluctantly. "Then just imagine that Dr. Black is there to kill you. You can't leave the house because the keys needed to escape are in possession of Dr. Black. It's literally either you or him. What would you use to dispatch him?"

"Well… when you put it that way," Aang said thoughtfully. "You're going to laugh, but… I would use that candlestick after all. Oh, and I'd do it in the library."

The others all began to laugh. "Candlestick in the library, that's really classy, Aang," Yue grinned. "Anyway, let's continue the game. Aang still has to refute my standing accusation."

Aang, in fact, did manage to clear Colonel Mustard of the murder accusation as the game progressed. The game ended with Toph correctly identifying Katara's Mrs. Peacock as the murderess with the rope in the conservatory. They played a few more games afterwards and Yue seemed to do the best, while Aang and Katara generally struggled to make correct accusations. By the time they were bored of Cluedo, it was already late in the evening, the midnight hour approaching. The rain had stopped pouring outside and a cool and refreshing breeze was flowing in through the partly opened window.

They were about to bid one another goodnight, when Aang suddenly spoke up. "So, I've been thinking about something else while we were playing," he began.

"Clearly, because you were just awful at Cluedo," Toph elbowed him in the ribs.

"Toph, I'm trying to be serious here," Aang sighed at his best friend. "I've been thinking about the next year's finals. I mean… I could go back to defend my old title, but a year later it's going to be even easier, especially with Toph not there to challenge me. So, I've decided to do something else," he said, taking a deep breath. "Once I return home after the summer camp, I'm asking Gyatso to submit my application to the U18 qualifiers."

"What?" Toph gasped.

"Are you sure, Aang?" Katara asked, sounding concerned. "Winning another U15 title could be really good for you. Don't you need that stipend?"

"Well, sure… but I think I need to be playing stronger opposition more than I need the money. You can't buy that sort of experience with yuan," Aang replied.

"I think it's a good plan," Yue nodded in support of Aang's idea. "Remember Toph, you said that the Earth Kingdom talent pool is kind of shallow right now." Toph nodded at that. "Well, that means Aang should have an easy time qualifying, right?"

"Oh, no doubt about that, it'll be a breeze for him," Toph agreed. "I mean… Aang, if you're really sure about this, I'm definitely cool with you making a go of it. I just thought that since you would have to go through the qualifiers it might not be worth it."

"Nah, I'm really committed about doing this," Aang nodded with certainty. "Besides, this means we're all going to be playing at the same tournament next year, which is just awesome, isn't it? Why wait two more years when Toph and I are good enough to make the jump sooner?"

"I think it's a great idea," Katara agreed, her concerns having been put to rest. "It's going to be great to have the old gang together in Ba Sing Se," she added as the four friends joined in for a group hug.

Azula's summer was unfolding much more differently than she had imagined it. She had figured that her stay on Sozin's Island would be a slow and boring affair, what with her father absent for long periods of time. Even when Ozai came to the island to stay for a week and a half, he didn't interact with Azula much, sequestering himself away with Zhao. Azula understood her father's reasons for doing so. In a couple of months, Ozai was scheduled to defend his title of world champion among professionals in a grueling tournament that would last for five straight weeks, the six best players in the world playing four round-robins, twenty games in all, a daunting marathon to determine the best player in the world.

The final qualifying tournament for the world championship finals had come to a conclusion only a couple of weeks ago. Ozai had been attending it to observe his rivals playing and studying them for weaknesses, but also to support Zhao in his attempt to qualify. Much to Azula's petty delight and Ozai's great disappointment, Zhao had failed to do so. Zhao's presence at the finals would have guaranteed four easy wins for Ozai, but now every game he played would be fiercely contested. Her father would be facing past champions like Bumi Dhawan and Pakku Karetak, along with the best Fire Nation grandmasters like Piandao Mori and Jeong-Jeong Kaneko. Long Feng completed the lineup and was considered something of an outsider for the tournament.

With her father spending so much time in preparation, there were many days when Azula only saw him and Zhao for dinner, such as on this particular occasion. "Azula, I'm sorry that I haven't had the time to personally oversee your preparations this summer," Ozai began, sitting at the end of the dinner table, Azula to his left with Zhao across the table from her. "I trust that you are keeping your skills as sharp as ever."

"I am, father," Azula replied dutifully. Her training was progressing well, although perhaps not quite as smoothly as her father would have hoped. Her beloved horses were a powerful distraction, as was the unexpected presence of Zirin. The other girl certainly knew how to mess with Azula's thoughts. At the beginning of Azula's stay on Sozin's Island, Zirin always somehow managed to appear exactly where Azula was at the time, the older girl acting all flirty and seductive whenever she could get away with it, further confounding Azula and making it very hard for her to rat Zirin out. It didn't help that Zirin was absolutely killing that maid's uniform in a way that made Azula's knees go weak and wobbly.

"I have no reason to distrust you, daughter," Ozai nodded approvingly at her. "All the same, I will ask Zhao to take an evening off to test your progress."

"It would be my pleasure," Zhao smiled at Azula in a way that made her stomach churn slightly.

"If you think it necessary, father," Azula replied. She wasn't going to openly argue with Ozai.

"I do," Ozai nodded, resuming eating. A short while later, one of the servant girls came up to take away the tray of dirty dishes. Somehow, Zirin had managed to secure that role for tonight, the older girl unable to stop herself from giving Azula a flirty wink as she worked, a gesture that made Azula blush slightly. Unfortunately for them, Ozai had noticed the exchange. "Excuse me?" he bellowed at the suddenly startled Zirin. "What is the meaning of this? Azula, is this wench bothering you?" he turned towards his daughter.

Azula just about managed to get a hold of her nerves and schooled her expression into casual neutrality. "Of course not, father," she shrugged. "She is an irrelevant nobody. I couldn't care less about some lowly peasant."

"I should dismiss you for acting with such crass familiarity towards my daughter," Ozai glared at Zirin. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm deeply sorry, Mr. Nakamura, I meant no disrespect," Zirin bowed deeply, trembling in fear. "Please accept my most sincere apologies, Miss Nakamura."

"You should be kicked off this island right away, wench. Instead, consider this your first and final warning," Ozai growled. "Now get lost!"

"Thank you, Mr. Nakamura," Zirin sighed in relief, quickly grabbing the tray of dishes and departing in a hurry. Zhao accompanied her retreat with a hungry stare that seemed to focus on Zirin's exquisite, long legs.

"Delightful," Zhao chuckled under his breath. "Saucy minx, that one," he nodded at Ozai.

Ozai snorted with laughter. "Normally, I would say go for it, my friend," he said. "But we have a lot to cover in my preparations and I need you focused. Leave the wench alone for now."

"As long as we both celebrate in style after the finals," Zhao remarked, both of them sharing a laugh.

Azula observed the entire exchange, struggling hard to stop herself from glaring angrily at Zhao. Over the weeks spent on Sozin's Island, Azula had found it harder and harder to stay angry at Zirin. Lately, they had actually managed to engage in lengthy conversations without Azula bringing up Zirin's previous betrayal of her trust. In her heart, Azula had already forgiven Zirin. She just hadn't said the words aloud, and yet somehow she suspected that Zirin already knew.

And Azula also found herself more and more attracted to Zirin, unable to deny her own growing feelings. It was becoming increasingly difficult not to act on these feelings, but obviously she would not risk it while her father and Zhao were present on the island. Once they left again, however… perhaps she would finally muster the courage to approach Zirin. But no, Azula had to admit that most likely the older girl would have to make the first move.

Azula just hoped that Zhao wouldn't get any ideas about trying something despite her father's wishes. The mere idea of Zhao accosting Zirin was making Azula fantasize about violently shoving a fork right into Zhao's eyeball and hearing him squeal like a stuck pig. She wasn't going to let anything like that happen to Zirin.

Next chapter: A surprise guest visit's Uncle Iroh's summer camp (and no, it's not Sokka), while Azula and Zirin make progress.